My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #10: Summary (10)

Copyright ©, Stephen E. Jones[1]

Introduction. This is part #10, Summary (10), of my theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker. See the previous parts #10(1), #10(2), #10(3), #10(4), #10(5), #10(6), #10(7), #10(8) and #10(9). Other previous posts in this series were parts #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8 and #9, which this part #10 summarised. This is the last post in that series. It will be continued in my concluding summary series, "The 1260-1390 radiocarbon date of the Turin Shroud was the result of a computer hacking." It is my emphasis below unless otherwise indicated.

[Above: "Sergei [or Sergey] Markov in February 2012"[2]. The Soviet official who the German hackers (including Koch) sold their hacked secrets to was a "Sergei Markov":

"For both Dob [Dirk-Otto Brezinski] and Carl [Peter Carl] it became apparent after an hour or so of being questioned that Pengo [Hans Heinrich Hübner] and Hagbard [Karl Koch] had gone to the authorities. Eventually, both of them confessed to espionage. But they weren't to be accorded the same leniency that Markus Hess got. ... Both were taken into custody. ... prosecutor Kohlhaas ... saw his case strengthen when, during the search of Carl's apartment, a Casio pocket calculator was found. It contained the telephone number for one Sergei Markov"[3].

The Sergey Markov in the photo above has been described as "Putin's man"[4]. In 2009 this "Sergei Markov" admitted to being behind a hacking cyber-attack on Estonia [5, 6]. While I can as yet find no evidence that this Sergey (or Sergei) Markov was a former KGB agent (he need not have been), I assume that he is the "Sergei Markov" who was the Soviet Union's point of contact with the German "KGB hackers" which included Karl Koch[7].

10. THE SOVIET UNION HAD A MOTIVE TO DISCREDIT THE SHROUD AND THROUGH THE KGB KILL KOCH AND LINICK

• The Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse in the 1980s. By the mid-1980's the former Soviet Union (USSR) was on the verge of collapse:

"The prevailing mood of the Soviet leadership at the time of Brezhnev's death in 1982 was one of aversion to change. The long period of Brezhnev's rule had come to be dubbed one of "standstill", with an aging and ossified top political leadership. ... In 1988, the Soviet Union abandoned its nine-year war in Afghanistan and began to withdraw its forces. ... In the late 1980s, the constituent republics of the Soviet Union started legal moves towards potentially declaring sovereignty over their territories, citing Article 72 of the USSR constitution, which stated that any constituent republic was free to secede."[8].

And in fact the USSR did collapse in late 1989, epitomised by the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989[9].

[Above: Germans on and around the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate, 10 November 1989[10].]

• A first century radiocarbon date of the Shroud would have been a threat to the atheist USSR. The Soviet Union was an atheist State[11]. Yet, despite its attempts to eradicate religion since the 1917 revolution, the USSR continued to have a large Christian population[12]. In the 1980s, three Christian denominations alone, had a total of about 56.5 million adherents:

"According to both Soviet and Western sources, in the late 1980s the Russian Orthodox Church had over 50 million believers ... The Georgian Orthodox Church ... In the late 1980s ... had ... an estimated 2.5 million followers ... The Armenian Apostolic Church ... In the 1980s ... had about 4 million adherents ..." [13]

And that does not count the 5.5 million Roman Catholics mainly in the satellite republics:

"Catholics formed a substantial and active religious constituency in the Soviet Union ... The majority of the 5.5 million Roman Catholics in the Soviet Union lived in the Lithuanian, Belarusian, and Latvian republics, with a sprinkling in the Moldavian, Ukrainian, and Russian republics."[14].

Nor does that count the Roman Catholics in Poland, which were about 30 million in the late 1980s.

That totals about 92 million Christians in the Soviet Union in the 1980s. And if Protestants and other Christian denominations are included, that means there could have been about 100 million Christians in the crumbling, officially atheist, Soviet Union in the 1980s!

So a first-century radiocarbon date of the Shroud of Turin would have been perceived as a huge threat by the embattled Soviet leadership.

• If Timothy W. Linick had offered the Soviets a 14th century carbon-date of the Shroud they would have accepted it. So if Arizona radiocarbon dating laboratory physicist, Timothy W. Linick (see #10(7)) had approached the Soviet Union (through for example the Soviet consulate in San Francisco):

"Since most of what they [the Soviet Union] were interested in, especially technology for advanced computing, was on a list of highly restricted technologies maintained by a consortium of Western nations known as COCOM, the Soviets had long since resorted to extralegal means of procuring hardware and software. The FBI liked to maintain that Northern California's Silicon Valley, where much of American computer innovation resided, was crawling with KGB agents. The FBI claimed that one of the primary missions of the Soviet consulate in San Francisco was to funnel U.S. technology into the Soviet Union"[15].

with an offer to guarantee that the Shroud would be radiocarbon-dated to about 25-30 years before the Shroud first appeared in undisputed history at Lirey, France, in the 1350s (see #10(1)), the Soviets would certainly have accepted that offer.

• Linick was found dead of suspected suicide on 4 June 1989 Linick was found dead of suspected suicide in Tucson, Arizona on

[Right: Photograph of Linick and report that "He died at the age of forty-two on 4 June 1989, in very unclear circumstances, shortly after the campaign of the Italian press reporting our [Bonnet-Eymard's] accusations" of fraud in the radiocarbon dating.]

4 June 1989. (see #10(7)).

• Koch had been murdered by the KGB (or East Germany's Stasi on the KGB's behalf) between 23 and 30 May 1989, i.e. between 12 and 6 days before Linick's `suicide.' The German police on 3 June publicly identified the charred body as that of Koch. So Linick's `suicide' was one day after the KGB would have learned that Koch's burned body had been found! (see #10(9)).

• Koch and Linick were allegedly killed by the KGB to prevent them confessing the Soviets Union's hacking of the Shroud's radiocarbon dating. According to my theory, Koch and Linick were killed by the KGB (or the East German Stasi at the KGB's behest) to prevent them confessing their part in the Soviets Union's hacking of the Shroud's radiocarbon dating. Koch's murder was disguised as suicide, presumably by the KGB (or East Germany's Stasi at the KGB's behest), since no one else is known to have had a motive to kill Koch. But that the KGB (or Stasi) had killed Koch seemed inexplicable because Koch had long since finished confessing his hacking for the KGB, as had his fellow hackers for the KGB, but none of them were killed (see #10(9)).

But it is explicable if the KGB/Stasi executed Koch (and then Linick) for fear they would betray the USSR's own secret, as hacking the Shroud of Turin's radiocarbon dating would have been. With the publication of the Nature paper of 16 February 1989, which claimed that the Shroud was "mediaeval ... 1260-1390"[16], Koch would (according to my theory) have realised what his hacking into the Oxford and Zurich university computers and running a program on them had done, as he had since "embrace[d] ... conventional religion" [17].

That Koch had started to talk about his hacking for the USSR of the Shroud's radiocarbon dating is supported by his fellow hacker Pengo (Hans Hübner), complaining that Koch was "talking of nothing but conspiracies and [was] having religious hallucinations"[18].

But if, according to my theory, the KGB had arranged for Koch to install Linick's program on Zurich and Oxford radiocarbon dating laboratories' AMS computers (see #10(9)), they would have realised what Koch was saying and silenced him permanently. And then also silenced Linick permanently because if he learned of Koch's `suicide,' out of fear/remorse Linick might confess his hacking for the Soviets to the USA authorities.

• Koch is not essential to my theory. Nevertheless, as I have previously stated many times, Karl Koch is not essential to my theory:

a) If Koch could not have travelled to Zurich and Oxford to hack into their AMS computers, it would not falsify my theory.

"... Koch's role is not essential to my theory. If it turned out that Koch could not possibly have personally travelled to Zurich and Oxford to access their radiocarbon laboratories computers, it would not falsify my theory."[#10(9)]

b) Linick could have hacked Zurich and Oxford's AMS computer some other way:

"...Karl Koch is not essential to my theory, as Linick could have hacked Zurich and Oxford's AMS computer some other way, e.g. by issuing them with a program `update', or one of the KGB's own operatives could have entered those two laboratories clandestinely and installed Linick's program on their AMS control console computers"[#10(9)]

"If it turned out that Koch could not possibly have been involved, either directly or indirectly, in installing Linick's program on Zurich and Oxford laboratories' AMS control console computers, then my theory would not be falsified. In that case I would have to maintain that Linick's program was installed on those laboratories' computers by some other way. For example, Linick himself could have flown over to Zurich and Oxford, installed his program clandestinely on their computers, and returned to Arizona, in a few days. This is why my theory always has been `that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker' (singular)."[#10(9)]

c) Linick could have acted alone:

"Koch is not essential to my theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker, as Linick could have acted alone. But that both Linick and Koch (who need not have known each other) were involved in hacking the Shroud's radiocarbon date for the KGB is supported by the fact that Linick died of `suicide in mysterious circumstances' on 4 June 1989 and Koch's inexplicably burnt body which was made to look like suicide, had been publicly identified by the German police only a day earlier on 3 June 1989![19]

d) It is not essential to my theory that Linick knew Koch or vice-versa:

"Also, as I have also previously stated, it is not essential to my theory that Linick knew Koch, or even about Koch (and vice-versa): `... I don't claim that the laboratories, or even Linick, knew about Koch'"[#10(9)]

e) I have included Karl Koch in my theory because of the striking coincidence that Linick's `suicide' on 4 June 1989 was only one day after Koch burnt body was publicly identified by German police on 3 June 1989, and other reasons as follows:

"I have included Karl Koch in my theory, despite there being as yet no confirmed link between Koch and Linick, because of: 1) the striking coincidence that both Koch and Linick died of suspected suicide within days of each other (and indeed Linick's `suicide' on 4 June 1989 was only one day after Koch charred body was identified and publicly announced as his by German police on 3 June 1989 ...; 2) Koch's death was almost certainly the work of the KGB, or the East German Secret Police (Stasi) at the behest of the KGB; 3) the KGB had no reason to kill Koch unless he had been involved in an entirely different type of hacking for them which they did not want to become public knowledge; 4) Koch's expertise would have been useful in hacking into Zurich and Oxford's AMS computers; and 5) Koch's living in Germany would have made it comparatively easy for him to travel to Zurich and Oxford to install Linick's program on their computers (although that too is not necessary to my theory as Koch may have only provided expert advice on how to hack into those computers and a KGB operative may have entered the laboratories clandestinely and installed Linick's program on their AMS computers, or Linick himself may have installed it)."[#10(9)]

f) So those who continue to dismiss my theory as merely a "conspiracy theory," knowing my above disclaimers, do so dishonestly:

"So, apart from the fact that the term `conspiracy theory' says NOTHING about whether a theory is TRUE or not, and indeed `the skepticism of conspiracy theorising ... is akin to a modern day SUPERSTITION' (!):

"A conspiracy theory is an explanatory hypothesis that accuses two or more persons, a group, or an organization of having caused or covered up, through secret planning and deliberate action, an event or situation which is typically taken to be illegal or harmful. Although the term `conspiracy theory' has acquired a derogatory meaning over time and is often used to dismiss or ridicule beliefs in conspiracies, it has also continued to be used by some to refer to actual, proven conspiracies, such as U.S. President Richard Nixon and his aides conspiring to cover up Watergate. ... [and] some thinkers, particularly philosophers, have argued that belief in conspiracy theories can be rational and that the skepticism of conspiracy theorising (the generation of conspiracy theories) is akin to a modern day superstition." ("Conspiracy theory," Wikipedia, 30 May 2015)

my hacking theory, at its most basic, does not require `two or more persons, a group, or an organization,' as Linick COULD have acted alone." (capitals original)[20]

"So those who continue to dismiss my theory as merely a "conspiracy theory," in the full knowledge of my above disclaimers, do so dishonestly."[#10(9)]

To be concluded in "The 1260-1390 radiocarbon date of the Turin Shroud was the result of a computer hacking."

Notes
1. This post is copyright. No one may copy from this post or any of my posts on this my The Shroud of Turin blog without them first asking and receiving my written permission. Except that I grant permission, without having to ask me, for anyone to copy the heading and one paragraph only (including one associated graphic) of any of my posts, provided that if they repost it on the Internet a link to my post from which it came is included. See my post of May 8, 2014. [return]
2. "Sergey Alexandrovich Markov," Wikipedia, 15 April 2015. [return]
3. Hafner, K. & Markoff, J., 1991, "Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier," Corgi: London, reprinted, 1993, pp.292-293. [return]
4. "Putin's Man Warns Finland About NATO Membership and Russophobia," Finbay, 9 June 2014. [return]
5. Coalson, R., 2009, "Russia admits to Cyber Attack on Estonia," La Russophobe, March 9. [return]
6. Leyden, J., 2009, "Russian politician: 'My assistant started Estonian cyberwar'," The Register, 10 March. [return]
7. Hafner & Markoff, 1991, p.293. [return]
8. "Soviet Union," Wikipedia, 30 June 2015. [return]
9. "Berlin Wall," Wikipedia, 27 June 2015. [return]
10. Ibid. [return]
11. "State atheism: Soviet Union," Wikipedia, 21 June 2015. [return]
12. Ibid. [return]
13. "Religion in the Soviet Union," Wikipedia, 23 May 2015. [return]
14. Ibid. [return]
15. Hafner & Markoff, 1991, p.226. [return]
16. Damon, 1989, p. 611. [return]
17. Hafner & Markoff, 1991, p.301-302. [return]
18. Hafner & Markoff, 1991, p.316. [return]
19. Jones, S.E., 2015, "Locations of the Shroud: Turin 1918-Present: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia," The Shroud of Turin blog, June 3. [return]
20. Jones, S.E., 2015, Comment under, "`Ga-Gm': Turin Shroud Dictionary," The Shroud of Turin blog, May 24. [return]

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Created: 30 June 2015. Updated: 15 August 2015.